Harry W. Gerstad
Harry W. Gerstad, born Harry Donald Gerstad (June 11, 1909 – July 17, 2002) was an American film editor who sometimes directed films. The Academy Award-winning editor also worked on television. He edited as well as directed for the 1950s program Adventures of Superman. In the 1960s he worked for Bing Crosby productions and Batjac Productions. Gerstad retired to Palm Springs, California in 1973.[1]
Noteworthy films
Gerstad's editing work spanned more than 40 films, including The Spiral Staircase (1946), Crossfire (1947), Rocketship X-M (1950), Batman (1966), The War Wagon (1967) and Walking Tall (1973).
Awards and nominations
He won the Academy Award for Film Editing (the "Oscar") twice: for the boxing drama Champion in 1949 and for Fred Zinnemann's seminal Western High Noon in 1952. Although Elmo Williams, who was the co-editor of High Noon, indicates in his autobiography that Gerstad's credit was a nominal one.[2] In that time-frame, the editorial supervisor/supervising film editor (Gerstad's title in "High Noon", and other films in that time-frame) was usually and very often contractually given superior credit along with his subordinate editor(s) (in this case, Williams, who, of course, received inferior credit.) In 1997, Gerstad received the American Cinema Editors Career Achievement Award.
Gerstad was honored with a Palm Springs Walk of Stars Golden Palm Star in 2003.[3]
Selected filmography
- Tough Assignment (1949)
- 13 Fighting Men (1960)
References
- ↑ Oliver, Myrna (2002). "Harry Gerstad, 93: Film Editor Won 2 Academy Awards," Los Angeles Times July 17, 2002.
- ↑ Williams, Elmo (2006). Elmo Williams: A Hollywood Memoir (McFarland), p. 86. ISBN 0-7864-2621-7
- ↑ Palm Springs Walk of Stars by date dedicated